His father nearly killed him. His incredible escape inspired a lifesaving organization.
When Kevin Steen left for work on an October morning in 2013, he received a flurry of urgent texts from his friend Mohammad.
The two had become fast friends two years earlier while Kevin was studying Arabic abroad in Jordan, so it wasn’t unusual for the two to text each other on Kevin’s bus ride to work.
But on this particular morning, it was different.
Mohammad’s life was in danger: he had been outed as gay to his family, brutally beaten by his father, and was fleeing for his life.
In Jordan, being outed as gay could be a death sentence, particularly within conservative families. That morning, Mohammad’s mother had sent him a warning text, risking her own life to tell him that his father had a loaded gun and was determined to find and kill him.
Photo by Warren Wong / Unsplash.
That’s why Mohammad needed to find someplace safe to hide — and he needed to do so quickly.
Kevin immediately tried to help but despite an exhaustive search, he couldn’t track down any organizations that could offer immediate aid to Mohammad. So, with no time to spare, he took matters into his own hands and wired money to Mohammad to rent a room.
Mohammad had to keep moving though because his father continued to stalk him relentlessly. There were a number of close calls — including a terrifying day in which his father found one of the addresses where Mohammad was staying, and started shooting at the window while Mohammad hid under the bed.
But these close calls didn’t deter him. While his father was persistent, Mohammad was even more so. He insisted on finishing his college education even in light of his father’s intimidation, disguising himself in a burka to enter his campus undetected.
Photo by Majid Korang beheshti / Unsplash.
At each step of the way, Kevin was there, fundraising behind the scenes from the other side of the world to ensure that his friend had everything that he needed to survive, including shelter, food, and tuition money. And as graduation approached, they worked together to obtain a visa to safely relocate Mohammad to the United States.
Kevin was grateful for the chance to support his friend, but he knew that Mohammad’s struggles were not unique.
While there are some efforts on the ground to support LGBTQ+ people in Jordan, the Middle East and North Africa, most don’t get the resources and support they need.
Photo by Yannis Papanastasopoulos / Unsplash.
This is due in part to the fact that in these regions, setting up and formally registering an organization that supports LGBTQ+ people is risky — sometimes even illegal. But if they can’t formally register, fundraising and outreach is difficult to coordinate. So when people, like Mohammad, are in crisis, there are often no existing programs able to offer the immediate support they need.
That’s why Kevin created Rainbow Street in 2014, an international organization that uses grassroots fundraising in the United States to support LGBTQ+ activists on the ground in the Middle East and North Africa.
He named the organizations after a street in Jordan, the country where he first met Mohammad.
The organization not only helps refugees like Mohammad through direct assistance — providing housing, healthcare, and basic needs for those waiting to relocate — but it also helps connect LGBTQ+ people in the region with local support networks and resources. While Mohammad needed to relocate, not everyone in the region does, so Rainbow Street provides support based on each individual’s needs.
Activists in Jordan, Lebanon, and Tunisia lead the work on the ground, determining where their aid is needed most, while Kevin and his US-based volunteers provide the material support that allows them to coordinate these efforts.
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Nearly five years ago, Kevin couldn’t have known that his efforts to keep Mohammad safe were just the beginning of something much bigger than them both.
Mohammad and Kevin both live in the San Francisco Bay Area now, and they remain close friends to this day.
Their shared experience not only strengthened their friendship, but also became the foundation for Rainbow Street’s extraordinary work helping other LGBTQ+ people in the Middle East and North Africa.
And for Kevin especially, it was a deeply personal reminder of the power that one person can have to make a difference.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."
This article originally appeared in May.